Piano.



T. J. HOWARD;

' PIAND. APPLICATION FILED MAR.9.19 06.

PATENTED DEC. 25, 1906.

THOMAS J. HOWARD, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

PIANO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 25, 1906.

Application filed March 9,1906. Serial No. 305.145.

T 0 all whom, it 'lmty concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. HOWARD, of the city of Toronto, in thecounty of York and Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Pianos; and I hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

This invention relates to a straining means for the iron plate whichwill act in opposition to the strains caused by the tension of thestrings, and this straining means consists of one or more adjustablestraining members located in rear of the sounding-board and connectedthrough the wrest-plank and through the bottom plank of the back withthe iron plate by tie-bolts or equivalent means to enhance thedurability of the abovementioned parts and maintain a uniformity ofquality of tone by the counteraction of the stress originating from thetension of the strings, as hereinafter described, and specificallypointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to thefollowing description and to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure1 is a perspective view of the back of a piano. Fig. 2 is a front viewof the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken through the middle ofthe back. Fig. 4 is a modification of the straining-rods shown in thepreceding views.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts throughout thespecification and drawings.

In rear of the sounding-board a, as shown in Fig. 1, are three strainingmembers I), b, and 1), connected with the iron plate 0 by transversetie-bolts at, extending through the top of the straining members andthrough the wrest-plank e, and by transverse tie-bolts f, extendingthrough the lower ends of the straining members and through the bottomplank g. The employment of the tie-bolts d securely fastens thestraining members, wrest-plank, and iron plate together above thesounding board, and the tie bolts f se curely fasten the strainingmembers, bottom plank, and iron plate together below the sounding-boardand effectually prevent their separation under ordinary conditions ofuse and wear.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, each of the straining members b, b, and bconsists of two separated sections having screw-threaded shanks h and h,coupled together by turnbuckles 76, by which the tension of thestraining members can be adjusted to counterbalance the strain upon theiron plate 0 originating from the strings Z. By means of the strainingmembers 1), b, and b the iron plate can be caused to retain-its originalshape and position, and the tension of the strings Z will be preventedfrom causing the separation of the bottom and wrest plank from theirrelated parts, and a continuance of the quality of tone and thedurability of these parts can thereby be insured. As shown in Figs. 1and 8, the straining members consist of'straining-rods; but it ispossible to em loy cables or wires fitted with tension-regu atingturnbuckles, as shown in Fig. 4, as a substitute or substitutes for therods, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

It has been proved in the field of actual use that when the strainingmembers and tie-bolts are not arranged to clamp the wrest and bottomplanks to the iron plate they (the straining members) tear the wrest andbottom planks from the iron plate and destroy the quality of theinstrument.

In arranging the straining members parallel with the iron plate in rearof the wrest and bottom planks and securing the strain ing members tothe iron plate by tie-bolts passing through the wrest and bottom planksthe straining members, iron plate, and wrest and bottom planks aresecurely clamped together in a manner which effectively prevents theirseparation.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A piano comprising an upright sounding-board, an iron plate at thefront side of the sounding-board, a wrestplank at the top, and a bottomplank at the bottom, of the sounding-board and in rear thereof,straining-rods in rear of the wrest and bottom plan-ks and transversebolts connecting the straining-rods and iron plate through the wrest andbottom planks to clamp the parts together.

2. A piano comprising an upright sound- ICC ing-boarcl, an iron plate atthe front side of I versely through the wrest and bottom planks thesounding-board, a wrest-plank at the top to clamp the parts together.and a bottom plank at the bottom, of the Toronto, February 24, A. D.1906.

sounding-board and in rear thereof, vertical 1 T. J. HOWARD. 5 strainingmeans in rear of the wrest and bot- F In presence of tom planks andmeans connecting the verti- L. F. BROCK,

cal straining means and the iron plate trans- C. H. RIoHEs.

